Posted on by Nick Montfort

Consonants and Vowels form Constant Vows

Since the news has apparently reached a certain social network (of which I am not a member), I’ll mention on here that with a minimum of fuss and no prior announcement, Flourish Klink and I got married today.

A challenge that arose was writing wedding vows that captured that essential and positive semantics of the traditional statements, but which acknowledged that two people can be, in some ways, opposites, looking at things from different directions while also agreeing to live as partners and to make the same commitment to one another.

Of course, it would have been more challenging, and perhaps more amusing, if I had followed this writing constraint and also added a promise to “obey” to Flourish’s vow. Texts of this sort often are especially pleasing when they change their meaning from first half to second half. But for this particular purpose, the point is really the make the two halves equal in meaning, even if the language itself is less varied as a result.

So:

All through good and bad times, through sickness and health, through all, yes, I will love and honor. Will I? Yes.

Yes, I will honor and love. Will I? Yes. All through health and sickness, through times bad and good, through all.

23 Replies to “Consonants and Vowels form Constant Vows”

  1. Beautiful (and very fitting) vows. Congratulations Nick and Flourish!

  11. These are vows lovely and creative, are they? Yes.
    Yes, they are creative and lovely vows, are these!

  15. Sonorous. Symmetry as a loving speech act. Elegant and true. Congratulations.

  16. Congratulations again! Mighty fine palindrome. Fine, mighty. Again, congratulations!

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